What to know about Trump’s $2K tariff check proposal
by Sarah Fortinsky - 11/09/25 5:38 PM ETPresident Trump announced on Sunday that most Americans will receive “at least” $2,000 from the tariff revenue collected by the Trump administration.
Trump’s statement, made early Sunday on his Truth Social platform, comes after the White House defended his sweeping use of tariffs before the Supreme Court this past week, where the justices appeared skeptical of the president’s broad use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Trump’s public musing about Americans pocketing $2,000 from his tariff revenue also comes after Democrats emerged victorious in races across the country in last week’s elections. From more moderate to more progressive candidates, Democrats ran disciplined campaigns focused on affordability and cost of living.
Here’s what to know about Trump’s $2,000 tariff check proposal:
What Trump has said about the checks
Trump touted his tariffs Sunday morning, saying those who oppose them are “FOOLS” and that the revenue generated from the import tax on foreign goods will soon begin paying down the country’s debt and put money directly in people’s pockets.
“People that are against Tariffs are FOOLS! We are now the Richest, Most Respected Country In the World, With Almost No Inflation, and A Record Stock Market Price. 401k’s are Highest EVER,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.
“We are taking in Trillions of Dollars and will soon begin paying down our ENORMOUS DEBT, $37 Trillion. Record Investment in the USA, plants and factories going up all over the place,” he continued. “A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.”
Trump floated the idea of giving Americans checks, worth somewhere between $1,000 and $2,000, in an interview on One America News Network last month.
“We’re going to do something, we’re looking at something. Number one, we’re paying down debt. Because people have allowed the debt to go crazy,” Trump said at the time. “We’ll pay back debt, but we also might make a distribution to the people, almost like a dividend to the people of America.”
In an interview Sunday on ABC News’s “This Week,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told host George Stephanopoulos that he hasn’t spoken to Trump yet about his proposal but that “the $2,000 dividend could come in lots of forms, in lots of ways” that do not just resemble direct stimulus checks.
“It could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the president’s agenda,” Bessent said. “You know, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security. Deductibility of auto loans.”
“So, you know, those are substantial deductions that, you know, are being financed in the tax bill,” Bessent added.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5597771-what-to-know-trumps-2k-tariff-check-proposal/
